It looks increasingly likely that abortion will be one of the defining issues of the 2024 US Presidential election – and probably the Congressional ones as well.
Donald Trump seems to have realised that and is oscillating between claiming credit for Roe v Wade while frantically trying to pretend that states like Alabama have gone too far.
In journalism and politics there are beat ups every day of the week. But some are so outrageous that they make a zephyr breeze look like a tornado.
The ABC and others recently reported that Labor was losing support in the Calwell seat due to what they see as Labor’s support for Israel.
The evidence – two focus groups with 18 people in each conducted by the Redbridge Group. The conclusion from this massive sample was that Labor is rapidly losing support among Muslim voters over Canberra’s support for Israel and its war on the Gaza Strip and its citizens.
The use of nudge theory’s influence in politics was highlighted in a 2008 book by the economist Richard Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein. It was an open invitation to governments to employ ‘nudge’ units which would magically convince the population to do the ‘right thing’ and avoid problems such as legislation and community backlash.
If there is one thing the AuSSA survey shows is that the Liberal Party is out of step with women along with things such as religion.
Most respondents to the survey say they think equal opportunities for women have not gone far enough or not gone nearly far enough. But the Liberal Party might be heartened by the finding by the minority who believe it has gone much too far and the few who think is has just gone too far.
When it comes to helping the elderly with their everyday lives – from house cleaning to grocery shopping – most think government agency should be responsible followed by families. There is also overwhelming support for public funds to help the cost of caring for the elderly.
When asked about how many days a week people spend personally on household work (not including childcare) the cluster is around 10 hours with a similar amount of time looking after family members (eg children, elderly or disabled family members) although for some reason a tiny minority seem to spend more than 80 hours a week on it. This work seems to be fairly well shared between spouses.
Media, MPs, marketers and assorted other pundits are constantly telling us about what Australians think.
They puzzle over data and find significance in a 1% or 2 % shift in a survey in a way which would have statisticians shaking their heads.
Yet there is a source which would help clear the fog and replace it with some robust data.
There are possibly millions of people around the world today cheering former Vice President, Dick Cheney.
The man who sexed up the non-existent weapons of mass destruction; launched massive unrest and violence in the Middle East; and was probably the power behind the throne in the Bush White House has come out with a devastating condemnation of Donald Trump.
Peter Dutton is heading down a political path – belligerent and scare-mongering – which many other political leaders around the world are following.
His problem, like his counterparts around the world, is that it is having a significant impact on how women around the world vote and opening up a significant gender gap in voting behaviour.
In a week Victoria will once again foot the bill for an event- the grand prix – which has been promoted by successive governments despite the huge costs it inflicts on taxpayers. All justified by economic benefit claims which are massively exaggerated.
Peter and Joan Logan have been indefatigable campaigners against the event – exposing year after year the Grand Prix and Government’s transparently dodgy claims. Their latest expose has recently been published in Pearls and Irritations and is reproduced with permission.
The Liberal Party Deputy Leader, Sussan Ley, is a woman of strong and forthright views. Sadly, they don’t always seem to be well-considered, coherent or even close to being rational.
For instance, immediately after Albanese announced he would re-jig the Stage Three tax cuts she announced an incoming Liberal Government would repeal his changes.